Duplex four-way valve



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY Sept. 7, 1948. H. w. ADAMS Erm.

DUPLEX FOUR-WAY VALVE Filed April 1v. 1944 Sept. 7, 1948. H. w. ADAMSErAL 2,448,649

A DUPLEX FOUR-WAY VALVE Filed April 17, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORSHAROLD W. ADAMS ORVILLE A. WHEELON BY re sa ATTORNEY 'Patented' Sept. 7,1948 DUPLEX FOUR-WAY VALVE Harold W. Adams, Santa Monica, and Orville A.Wheelon, Pacific Palisades, Calif., assignors to Douglas AircraftCompany, Inc., Santa Monica,

Calif.

Application April 17, 1944, Serial No. 531,390

6 Claims. (Cl. 251-18) Our invention relates to multiple ported valveshaving a single movable part for controlling the flow of iiuid throughthe various ports of the valve, and relates in particular to a valve ofthis type wherein movement of the control member results in openingoneport to high pressure and another port to low pressure, such as areservoir, to which iluid is returned from a fluid motor.

It is an object of the invention to provide a valve which, although itis suitable for other uses, has especial utility in controlling theoperation of iiuid motors employed to aim guns carried by swivelsupports so as to have universal movement within a given angular range.

It is an object of the invention to provide .a simple control valve,having a single universally movable valve part operative to control theapplication of fluid under pressure to one or more reversible hydraulicmotors in such manner that the direction and speed of operation thereofmay be easily controlled by appropriate movement of the valve part.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a valve of thecharacter set forth in the foregoing paragraph having a universallyswingable valve member of novel form mounted so that pressure appliedthereto will be substantially balanced, with the result that the valvemember may be moved in any of its directions of movement by the sameapplication of pressure. For example, valves known tous for this usehave required a pressure of about two pounds against the contro l memberto produce initial movement of the valve element from one position toanother, thereby resulting in a jerky movement of such Valve member dueto, iirst, the lag in the start of the movement of the valve elementwhile the pressure is being applied and then to the movement of thevalve element beyond its intended stopping position due to theapplication of this pressure required to produce the initial movement.

It is an object of the invention to provide a control valve having aspherical wall with fluid ports extending through this spherical wall,and a movable valve member supported so that it will haveunversalmovement on the point around which the spherical surface of thewall is generated, and having a spherical face to engage the sphericalsurface of the wall, there being means for producing universal movementof the valve member so that the ports will be closed and opened in sucha manner and to such degree that controlled ows of fluid under pressurewill be delivered to the associated uid driven motors to drive them atsuch relative velocity that the movement of the gun from an initialposition will follow the direction in which the control member has beenmoved.

A further object of the invention is to provide a valve of thischaracter which is of compact form and has its parts so arranged thatthe ducts of the system which it serves may be readily con` nectedthereto. In the preferred form of the invention, six conduits areconnected to the valve, but ve of these conduits are connected to thecover plate of the valve so that the valve body may be removed from itsposition on a supporting structure after only one of the conduits,namely, the sixth, has been disconnected.

A further object of the invention is to provide a valve having a simplemeans for limiting the speed of movement of the closure member so thatan abrupt change in flow through selected conduits cannot be caused byan inadvertent heavy pressure against the control lever of the valve.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be brought out inthe following part of the specification.

Referring to the drawings which are for illustrative purposes only:

Fig. 1 is a cross sectional view of a preferred embodiment of ourinvention taken on the line I-i of Fig. 3.`

Fig. 2 is a side view of the body of the control valve forming a part ofour invention.

Fig. 3 is a face View of the valve.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the plane indicated by the line 4--4of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of the central portion of Fig. 1,with the movable valve closure member displaced downward.

Y Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic View showing the closure member in downwardlydisplaced position relative to the ports of the valve plate, tocorrespond to the position thereof in Fig. 5.

Fig. 'l is a diagrammatic view similar to Fig. 6

' showing the closure member in laterally displaced position.

Fig. 8 is another diagrammatic view similar to Fig. 6 showing theclosure member in' a diagonally offset position.

Fig, 9 is a schematic view showing a manner in which the valve may beemployed.

Our duplex four-way valve 24 is shown in detail in Figs. 1 to 5inclusive. It includes a body 30 of hollow construction having a centralchamber anda plurality of radiating arms, preferably three in number andidentified as 3l, 32, and 33, and being directed outward in a commonplane at amano angles of 120 degrees, with the arms 31 and 32 extendingupwardly and outwardly and the arm 33 extending downwardly. As shown inFigs. 1A

and 2, the body 36 has a central, rearwardly extending, hub 34 with abore 35 on an axis perpendicular to the plane defined by the armsl 3l,32, and 33. The body 36 has a chamber 36 which communicates with theinner end of the bore 35 and has radiating portions 31, 38, and 39extending outwardly through the arms 3i,l 32, and 33. In the front orleftward wall of the body 36 there is a bore or opening 46 coaxial withthe bore 35, and a ported body 4I' is secured by means of stud bolts 42in a position to close the opening 46.

The ported body 4I has an inwardly faced concave spheroidal surface 43against which a hollow, square valve plate or closure member 44 isiitted, and a fluid return port extends substantially centrally throughthe body 4I so as to meet the center of the spheroidal face 43. In theported body 4I, service ports 46, 46a, 41, and 41a are arranged aroundthe return port 45 in the manner shown in Figs. 6, 7, and 8, the ports46, and 46a being respectively above and below the port 45, and theports 41 and 41a being on opposite sides of the port 45.

The closure member 44 is of quadrilateral cross section as shown inFigs. 6 to 8, and has a quadrilateral 11p 48 disposed around a centralcavity or opening 49 which is continuously in communication with thereturn port 45 and has for its purpose to connect this return port 45with selected service ports as shown in Figs. 6 to 8 inclusive, when theclosure member 44 is moved from its centralized position shown inFig. 1. The lip 48 of the closure member 44 is of such width that whenthe closure member is in centralized position as shown in Fig. l, thelip 48 will close all of the service ports 45, 46a, 41, and 41a.

The closure member 44 is on the inner or leftward end of a universallyswingable lever 56 which projects through the bore 35 and has thereon aspherical enlargement I to engage a spheroidal seat 52 formed at theinner end of a sleeve 53 which is adjustably held within the bore 35 bymeans of a threaded adjusting sleeve 54 which Ais secured in adjustedposition by means ot a lock nut 55. The sleeve 53 is held from rotationby a dog-pointed screw 56 threaded through the hub 34 so as to engage aslot 51 in the sleeve 53. A double lipped sealing ring 58 is placedinthe bore 35 around the ball 5I of the lever 56 and is held inoperative position by a Aspring 59. A balancing spring 66 is placedaround the external portion of the lever 56 in such position that itsinner end will engage the sleeve 53 and its outer end will engage a ringnut 6I locked in adjusted position on the threaded portion 62 of thelever 56 by means of a lock nut 63. The unbalanced area of the closuremember 44 is preferably slightly larger than the area of that portion ofthe ball 5I in engagement with the spherical seat 52, with the resultthat the pressure on the lever 56 in axial direction is unbalanced inthe direction of the concave spheroidal face 43. The pressure with whichthe closure member 44 is forced against the surface 43 may be adjustedby changing the compression in the spring 66, which is accomplished bymovement of the ring nut 6I formed near the outer ends of the radiatingportions 31, 38, and 39 of the chamber 36, and the outer 'ends of theseportions 31, 38, and 39 are closed by threaded plugs 65, as best shownin Fig. 5. Dashpot pistons 66, 61, and 68 are located in the cylinderbores 64. The lower piston 68 is rigidly connected by means of a radialarm 69 with a ring 16 having an opening 1I therein, this opening 1Ireceiving a spherical collar 12 formed on the lever 56 between theclosure member 44 and the ball 5I', A pin 13 projects inward from thering 16 into a longitudinal slot 14 in the periphery of the collar 12and restrains axial rotation of the lever 56 and the closure member 44relative to the arm 69. The dashpot pistons 66 and 61 are pivotallyconnected to the ring 16 by radial arms 69a and pivots 16a. It will benoted that as the closure member 44 is swung from one side to another ofits neutral position there will be a very slight rotation of the closuremember 44 aroundits axis owing to the rotation of the arm 69 and the pin13 about the center of the piston 68.

The chamber 36 of the valve body 36 has an inlet port 15 through whichit receives fluid under pressure from a suitable source, and the dashpotchambers 16, 11, and 18, lying adjacent the outer ends of the pistons66, 61, and

68 respectively, are all connected through restricted passages with thechamber 36. The lower dashpot chamber 18 is directly connected with thechamber 36 through a passage 19 which extends through the lower part ofthe radial arm 69, this passage 19 having a-iiow controlling orifice 86formed in a plug 8I which threads into the lower portion of the passage19 as shown in Fig. 4. The upper dashpot chambers 16 and 11 areconnected to the chamber 36 through passages 82 which extend to thelower parts of threaded recesses 83 connected to a bleed chamber 84formed in the upper part of the body 36 and being closed by means of aplug 85. This bleed chamber 84 is connected by means of a verticalpassage 86 with the chamber 36, as shown in Fig. 1, and the bleedchamber 84 is provided with a passage or port 81 leading to the exteriorof the valve body 36, thereby providing an arrangement of passageswhereby all accumulations of gas or air may be bled from the upper partof the valve body. Plugs 88, having flow controlling orifices 89, arethreaded into the recesses 83 so that a control of fluid to and from theupper dashpot chambers 16 and 11 is obtained.

The manner in which the valve 24 operates inv a system for controlling apair of reversible fluid motors I5 and I8 for pointing a gun or otheruniversally mounted member is shown in schematic Fig. 9, wherein theported body 4I with its ports 45, 46, 46a, 41 and 41a, and therectangular closure member 44 are shown in dotted lines and the flows offluid to the motors I5 and I9 may be readily traced. A pressure uiddelivery conduit 96 connects the inlet 15 of the chamber 36 with asuitable source represented as a pump 9|, and a return conduit 92connects with the return passage 45 so that the discharged hydraulicfluid may be carried to a reservoir 93. The ports 46 and 46a arerespectively connected through conduits 94 and 95 with the motor I8, andthe ports 41 and 41a are connected respectively through conduits 96 and91 with the motor I5. The lever or stem 56 of the valve 24 is shown asbeing directly connected to a control member 25 so that it will havemovement in accordance with the movement of the control member. For thisconnection, we have shown a ball 98 on the outer end of the lever 58which, as shown in Fig. 1, makes sliding engagement with the bore 98 ofthe controlling member 25. Accordingly, any lateral movement of themember 25 will produce a movement of the lever 50 to move the closuremember 44. When the lever 58 is in centralized position, as shown inFig. 1, the service ports 48, 48a, 41, and 41a will be closed by themember 44, and there will be no flow of pressure iluid from the chamber35 of the valve through any of the conduits 94, 85, 98, or 81 tothe:duid operated motors I5 and I8. In one operation of the valve 24, themember 25 may be swung upward, causing the yrectangular closure member44 of the valve to swing downward toward or into the position thereofshown in Figs. 5 and 6, connecting the service port 48 with the chamber85 and connecting the service port 45a through the opening 49 with thereturn passage 45. Accordingly, pressure nuid will flow from the chamber35 out through the conduit 94 to the fluid operated motor I8, and thenback through the conduit 95, the port 46a and the opening 49 to thereturn passage 45 which is connected to the return conduit 92, with theresult that the motor I8 will be driven in one direction. A downwarddisplacement of the front end of the lever 50 will raise the closuremember 44 so as to reverse the connection of the ports 46 and 46a withthe pressure fluid supply and the return line, so that the pressurefluid will ilow out through the port 46a, and the conduit 95, to themotor I8, and will be returned to the valve 24 through the conduit 94,thereby causing a reverse operation lof the motor I8.

Lateral swinging of the lever 50 results from operation of the motor I5in either direction. Fig. '7 shows the rectangular closure member 44rightwardly offset from centralized position to connect the serviceports 41 and 41a respectively With the chamber 36 and the return passage45, whereby operation of the motor I5 in one direction is accomplished.It is evident that a movement of the member 44 in leitward directionfrom centralized position will feed fluid through the motor` I5 inopposite direction. Simultaneous operation of the motors I5 and I8 isaccomplished by a simultaneous opening of a pair of service ports toreceive pressure iluid from the chamber 36, this being accomplished by adiagonal movement of the closure member 44 resulting from a diagonalmovement vof the front end of the lever 50. For example, downward andleftward movement of the closure member 44 to connect ports 46 and 41awith the chamber 36 and ports 46a and 41- with the return passage 45, asshown in Fig. 8, whereby fluid under pressure will be fed through bothmotors.

A further object ofthe invention is to maintain the speed of the motorsI5 and I8 directly proportionate to the movement of the member 44 fromcentralized position.

In Figs. 6, 7, 8, and 9, we show the service ports 46, 4'6a, 41, and 41aformed with cross-sectional areas which increase in width from the outerextremities thereof toward the inner extremities, so that the rate ofincrease in the opening port area will be greater than rate ofdisplacement of the lip of the valve member 44, this increase ineffective port area being such that it will compensate for friction headpressure drop and thereby maintain in the conduits leading tothe motorstluid velocities which are proportionate to the displacement of theclosure member 44.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a control valve of the character described,

the combination of: a hollow body having spacedwalls, one of said wallshaving an interior concave spheroidal face with port means therein, andthe other of said walls having an opening opposite said face.; aswingable member extending through said opening into said body, havingon the inner portion thereof a closure member for sliding engagementwith said face; a spherical shoulder carried by said swingable member;means sleeving said swingable member slidably mounted in said opening; aconcave spherical seat formed on said sleeving means for receiving saidshoulder and cooperating therewith for supporting said swingable memberfor universal movement whereby said closure member may be moved relativeto said spheroidal face; adjustable means engaging said sleeving meansfor positively holding said seat against said shoulder and saidswingable member in a position in which said closure member ismaintained in good sealing engagement with said spheroidal face; andmeans forming a seal between said swingable member and said opening.

2. In a control valve ofthe character described, the combination of ahollow body having spaced walls, one of said walls having an internalconcave spheroidal face and the wall opposite said nrst named wallhaving an opening therethrough, said first wall having a .plurality ofservice ports symmetrically arranged about a centrally located exhaustpassage; a swingable member extending through said opening; a closuremember rigidly carried by the inner end of said member for slidingengagement with said concave spheroidal face, for closing and unclosingsaid service ports; means for sealing said opening around the portion ofsaid swingable member which passes therethrough; means supporting saidswingable member so that it will pivot substantially on the center pointaround which said spheroidal face is generated; and means carried bysaid body for adjusting the supporting means for positively holding saidclos-ure member in good sealing engagement with said spheroidal face.

3.` In a control valve of the character described, the combination of ahollow body having spaced walls, one of said walls having an internalconcave spheroidal face and the other of said walls having an openingtherethrough, said first wall having a central exhaust port and aplurality of service ports arranged therearound in an area of saidspheroidal face; a swingable member extending through said opening; aclosure member rigidly carried by the inner end of said swingablemember, said closure member comprising a cavity confronting said faceand being in communication with said exhaust port, a lip around saidcavity for sliding engagement with said face, said lip being formed soas to cover said service ports when it is in neutral position; meanscarried by said swingable member and cooperative with means slidablymounted in said opening for supporting said swingable member so that itwill have universal movement around a point substantially connectedwiththe point about which said spheroidal face is generated so that saidclosure member may be moved over said spheroidal face to open a selectedpart of said service ports to said cavity and another part oi said portsto the space within said'body; means for sealing said opening around theportion of said swingable member which passes therethrough: and meanscarried by said body for engaging and holding said slidably mountedsupporting means in a position in which said closure member ispositively held in good sealing engagement with said spheroidal face.

4. In a control valve of the character described, the combination of: ahollow body having spaced walls, one of said walls having an interiorconcave spheroidal face with port means therein, and theother of saidwalls vhaving an opening opposite said face; a swingable memberextending through said opening into said body, having on the innerportion thereof a closure member for sliding engagement with said face;means carrie'd by said swingable member cooperating with means slidablymounted in said opening and forming a universal joint supporting saidswingable member so that it will swing substantially on the point aroundwhich said spheroidal face is generated; means forming a sealbetween'said swingable member and said opening, said sealing meansincluding resilient means applying a force to said swingable membertending to move the same away from said spheroida. face; and meanscarried by said body for positively holding the means slidably mountedin said opening in engagement with the cooperating means of saidswingable member and solidly resisting the action of said resilientmeans, the engagement between the means carried by said body and saidslidably mounted means holding the swingable member in a position inwhich said closure member is positively held in good sealing engagementwith said spheroidal face.

5. In a control valve of the character described, the combination of: ahollow body having spaced walls, one of said walls having an internalconcave spheroidal face and the other of said walls having an openingtherethrough, the spheroidal face of said first wall having a pluralityof service .ports symmetrically arranged about a centrally locatedexhaust passage; a swingable member extending through said opening; aclosure member rigidly mounted on the inner end of said swingable memberand slidably engaging said concave spheroidal face for closing andunclosing said service ports; means for sealing said opening around saidswingable member; and means for positively holding said swingable meansin a position in which said closure member is positively held in goodsealing engagement with said spheroidal face, said holding meanscooperating with said sealing means for supporting said swingable memberso that it will pivot substantially on the center point around whichsaid spheroidal tace is generated.

6. In a control valve of the character described, the combination of: ahollow body having spaced walls, one of said walls having an internalconcave spheroidal face, the wall opposite the said face having anopening therethrough, another oi' said walls having an inlet openingadapted to be connected to a source of uid under pressure, thespheroidal4 face oi said nrst'wall having a plurality of service portssymmetrically arranged about a centrally located exhaust passage; aswingable member extending through said opening; a closure memberrigidly mounted on the inner end of said swingable member; a lip formedabout the periphery of said closure member withbne face thereof engagingsaid spheroidal face for closing said service ports in one positionthereof means for sealingv said opening around said swingable member;and means for positively holding said swingable means in a position inwhich said closure member is positively held in good sealing engagementwith said spheroidal face. said holding means cooperating with saidsealing means for supporting said swingable member so that it will swingsubstantially about the center around which said spheroidal face isgenerated, whereby said closure member can be slidably moved in anydirection across said spheroidal face, each of said service ports deninga cross-sectional area the width of which decreases from its inner endtoward its outer end whereby the rate of movement of said closure memberwill be less than the rate of increase in' area of the port opened tofluid flow from said inlet opening and greater than the rate of increasein area of the port opened to discharge fluid to said exhaust opening.

HAROLD W. ADAMS. ORVILLE A. WHEELON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ille ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES P ATENTS Number Name Date 1,790,168 Paul Jan. 27, 19312,020,286 Bittle Nov. 12, 1935 2,209,418 Overbeke July 30, 1940 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 10,226 Norway Dec. 16, 1901 342,463 GermanyOct. 18, 1921

